Armenian Weightlifter Suffers Heroic Elbow Injury in Rio

Armenian weightlifter Andranik Karapetyan crashed out of the Olympics in agony as his left elbow gave way during a second attempt to lift 195kg (429lbs), the Daily Mail reports.

The 20-year-old was one of the favourites for the 77kg (169lbs) and strode onto the stage with the confidence befitting a European champion and lifted the vast weight onto his broad shoulders.

But when he attempted the clean and jerk, his left arm gave way and he had to take evasive action.

As the vast weight crashed to the mat, medical officials rushed to attend to the unfortunate young Olympian.

Seconds earlier, he had appeared a certainty for a medal – which would have been Armenia’s first of this Olympic Games – but his dreams were cruelly shattered in the most devastating circumstances.

 Kazakhstan’s Nijat Rahimov was the eventual winner, snatching victory from China’s Lu Xiaojun with Mohamed Ihab Youssef of Egypt taking bronze.